Letter: Drones offer wide opportunities in addition to a modern weapon

On Jan. 26, I attended the Salem Area Fellowship of Reconciliation’s “drone” presentation.

From her first slide, the speaker’s credibility as a “drone expert” was suspect. She claimed the picture was a Predator firing a 500-pound Hellfire missile. It was not. The photograph showed a Reaper and, while it is a Hellfire being launched, that missile weighs 108 pounds with a 20-pound warhead.

The Remotely Piloted Aircraft (or, more ominously, “drone”) is the bogeyman of the 21st century. It has become the object of paranoia, irrational fear and misplaced hatred.

Those emotions were played upon at the meeting with a misrepresentation of U.S. military tactics and intent and representing as “fact” disputed casualty figures. The speaker even showed photographs of dead children, presented as innocent victims of “drone strikes” without proof or evidence.

To reject the technology and potential of “drones” because they are used as weapons of war is akin to rejecting oceanic commerce because ships are used to fire guns and shoot missiles.

Oregon has an opportunity to play a key role in the development of unmanned aircraft, but potential gains will be lost if we continue to pound the drumbeat of fear to steer people into making emotional decisions rather than choosing well-reasoned and prudent options.